Together
by Omega135
Summary: Together they got to this point...but some things may be unforgivable. Draco/Pansy, rated T for some implications and themes
1. Chapter 1

Draco

He knelt wordlessly over the lifeless body of the greatest, kindest wizard ever to have existed. The only wizard who had ever truly given two shits about him, the closest thing he had to a father. There was nothing left to say. In the end, he would have gladly given up his life for that of Albus Dumbledore, and only fear had driven him to the extremes that he had taken to allow the Death Eaters access to his school. His friends. The ones whose screams that he had heard echoing throughout the halls tonight. Contrary to Potter's opinion, he wasn't heartless. He cared about his friends. He had been given the promise that nobody would come to harm except for Dumbledore. And in the end, he couldn't bring himself to commit the one act that he had been half-heartedly trying to complete for the entire school year.

"How could you?" he heard, and he turned to see a half moonlit Pansy standing behind him, tears running down her face.

"You know as well as I that there was no other choice", he replied, forcing a sneer onto his face. Showing weakness never ended well, never had and never would.

"You're _proud_ of this?" she whispered, starting to cry in earnest. "You're proud of the innocent people strewn across the Great Hall? You're proud that our teacher, our Headmaster, and our only hope is dead because of you?"

"Shut up!" he hissed, feeling his stomach twist at how she flinched back as if he had slapped her. He hadn't meant to sound cruel, but if any Death Eaters still lurking found out about how they had shared their wishes that Voldemort would be defeated, late at night when they met up, they would be tortured and killed for treason.

"I don't care anymore", she said, her voice hollow. "What does it matter? He'll win, our friends will be killed, and I'd rather just be dead." He felt the blood drain from his face.

"You don't mean that, Pan", he said hoarsely, pleadingly.

"Don't tell me what I mean!" she cried, her eyes filled with a wild pain. "Tonight, I just watched a _massacre_ at the one place I called a safe haven. I watched the people I care about fight valiantly, get brutally defeated and the halls that I've walked hundreds of time spattered with blood and, worst of all, the boy I thought I loved standing _emotionlessly_, and then not even giving a crap! So yes, Draco, I fucking mean it!" He watched her, broken, crying, and feeling the weight of having reduced her to this. After he promised that he'd never hurt her.

"What do you want me to do, Pansy?" he asked, tired. She looked at him, her normally sparkling brown eyes lifeless, and shrugged.

"You've already done enough", she sighed, and looked away.

"Do you want to break up?" he asked, holding his breath. If he lost her, then he had managed to lose everything that he had ever cared about in a span of minutes. But as she stood there, her makeup smeared as she refused to look him in the eyes, he knew he wasn't good enough for her. He turned away, unable to bear looking into her eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Pansy

Of course something like this would happen. The one boy that she had dared to trust had destroyed everything that she loved in one night. She glanced at him, his back, his blond hair messed up and his shoulders hunched protectively, and she was reminded of the night she had known that she loved him.

_She couldn't sleep. Not after yesterday's nightmare. She could still hear their laughs echoing through her dreams as they grabbed her arms. Could still feel the burning of her cheek after the leader slapped her for spitting in his eye. Could still recall the relief when the squad car passed by and rescued her as they were pinning her to a table, leering at her. Could still remember her mother's look of dispassion as she was delivered home in tears, and her father's lecture about how bad it looked that she had been brought home by a concerned policewoman. Could still taste the tears as her brother and sister had laughed at her disheveled appearance, shoved her against a door, and yelled as they walked away that a true Slytherin would never let themselves be caught unawares like that. _

_She walked to the common room, exhausted yet wide awake, and sat heavily on the couch before realizing that she wasn't alone._

"_A little late for you to be awake, isn't it? What's wrong, Princess has nightmares?" Draco had jeered, a small smile twisting his lips. She tried to summon her usual haughty look that she had taken to adopting whenever he was around, but it wouldn't come tonight. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she turned away from him silently._

"_Whoa, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you", Draco said, sounding concerned. "Pansy, what happened? Did someone hurt you?" She glanced at him, at the protectiveness she saw reflecting in his emerald green eyes, and told herself she was seeing things. Nobody protected her. Especially not Draco Malfoy, with his golden hair, gorgeous green eyes, and cruel arrogance. _

"_Why do you care?" she asked dully, unable to insert venom into her words. She was just too tired._

"_If someone touched you, I'll kill them", he vowed. "I may be a jerk, Pansy , but I'm not heartless." She glanced at him, slightly touched but unwilling to believe that his concern was real._

"_Nobody touched me. Why are _you_ awake?" she asked, and she saw a flash of pain through his eyes._

"_I'll tell you my reason if you tell me yours", he bargained, and she shrugged. In her exhausted, depressed state of mind, she saw no reason not to trust him._

"_I'm awake because I'm afraid of the nightmares", she said simply, and he nodded as if he understood completely._

"_Nightmares about what?" he asked, with no sympathy, just curiosity. _

"_Just…home", she said. "It's nothing, really."_

"_Not if it's keeping you awake. Maybe talking about it will help", Draco said, and she looked into his eyes and was lost._

"_One night, I was walking home. Alone, which was stupid. But if I had called my brother or father, they would have gotten angry at me for staying out so late. And my father was in a bad mood that day, giving me a two hour lecture about how I fail my family as a pureblooded Slytherin and how when Voldemort takes over, I'll be the first one he'd get rid of." Draco frowned, his brow creasing. She ignored it and kept going. She couldn't stop now that she had started._

"_So, a group of five boys came and started walking on either side of me. Only it wasn't friendly. It was more like…herding their prey. They started laughing, making jokes, and as I ignored them, they got annoyed. Two of them grabbed my arms, and that's when I started fighting back." Draco looked at her, his face pale, anger and something unreadable in his eyes. _

"_Did they hurt you?" he asked in a voice brewing with emotion._

"_Not…like that. After I spit in the big one's eye, he slapped me, but as they were holding me against a table, a cop car came by and saw. And when they drove me home, my mom just shrugged it off, my dad yelled about how bad it looked to have me brought home in a police car, and my siblings, like usual, shoved me around and harassed me. Nothing new. Nothing unexpected. It's nothing." Suddenly embarrassed, she jumped to her feet. "I'm sorry, I wasted your time." He jumped up, stepping in front of her, and without a word, laying his hand on her cheek and stroking it softly._

"_I'm awake because I've been assigned to kill the only wizard who ever cared about me by none other than the Dark Lord himself, and the only thing anybody who knows me cares about is making sure I succeed", he informed her, and she felt her eyes widen in shock._

"_Do…but…" she couldn't finish._

"_Dumbledore. So, yeah, I'll probably be dead by the end of this year. Makes it hard to sleep. Do you think maybe we could sit down, try and relax together?" She looked at him, saw nothing but sincerity in those enchanting eyes, and felt herself nod. As he led her to the couch and they began exchanging stories, she felt her lids drift shut. He pulled her head into his lap and stroked her hair as she drifted off._

"_I'll keep you safe, Pansy. I won't let you get hurt like that again", he whispered to her, and she smiled as she drifted into unconsciousness. _

He had held her even after she had told him her darkest secrets. The past year had been a myriad of fights about his task and fear of the looming threat, but he had been there for her the entire time. As he stood there, looking out into the horizon, she walked in front of him and looked into his eyes for the first time. She saw pain, regret, and a flash of hope as she pulled his head down for a kiss, soft and gentle.

"Whatever happens, we'll face it together", she heard herself whisper.


End file.
